Providing perspective on the economics and politics of sports business in Florida...and the Rays' campaign for a new stadium in Tampa Bay.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

New York Hosts a Much Better Super Bowl Than Tampa*

30 years ago today, Tampa hosted its first Super Bowl. It was a defining moment for the city, introducing it to the world as a "big league city." Tonight at 6 p.m. on 10 News, my investigative counterpart, Mike Deeson, will report on the city's magnificant growth from that turning point.

Since the 1984 game, Tampa has hosted three other Super Bowls, all of which were heralded as major successes. From organization to weather, the NFL always left saying, "see you again soon."

But Tampa will now go at least eight years from 2009 without another game, since future sites are decided through 2017. And the success of this year's game in New York may extend that drought even further.

Why? Because despite expected sub-par weather conditions and potential sub-zero temperatures, demand for Super Bowl tickets is immense and the cheapest seats are going for up to $5,000 a piece.

Here's the asterisk:

*To the NFL, Super Bowls are about money, and in a place with huge a corporate presence, the league can charge double its normal ticket price (club seats reportedly for $2,500 in New York; $1,250 last year in New Orleans). So as long as the game gets played on Super Bowl Sunday, every seat is sold, and every commercials makes air, the league may warm up to the idea of more Super Bowls in huge cities like New York and Chicago.

UPDATE 1/27/14 - The secondary ticket market has apparently crashed over fears of cold/wintry weather (go figure). Tickets that were selling for $5,000 a piece last week are now selling for less than $1,000. Hotels have reportedly slashed their prices by more than 50% too. So while the NFL will still make out like a bandit this year, I may not ultimately end up being right about how much more lucrative a cold-weather Super Bowl can be.

UPDATE 1/31/14 - Maury Brown with the Business of Sports network reports demand and prices on StubHub wound up climbing a little bit from last year. Good read here. And if you prefer video, here is a nice summary on ticket prices and inflated economic impact from old friend Dan Sheldon with Comcast Northwest.